2 missing women may be Grim Sleeper victims, detective says

Franklin, 58, has been charged with killing 10 women in South L.A. during two distinct periods -- the mid-1980s and from 2002 to 2007. The LA Weekly gave Franklin the "Sleeper" moniker because of the 14-year gap between killings allegedly committed by him.

From the outset of their investigation, however, LAPD detectives suspected the killer had been active during the period of apparent quiet.

Last week, LAPD Det. Dennis Kilcoyne announced police had reopened two unsolved homicide cases of women killed during this period and police believe may have been killed by Franklin.

Kilcoyne added that investigators also were looking at four women who have been reported missing as possible victims.

On Thursday, Kilcoyne added the two additional missing-person cases, bringing the total of possible additional victims to eight.

He declined to provide any specifics about what led investigators to link Franklin to the homicides and missing-person cases.

He also provided an update on the effort to identify scores of women shown on a trove of photographs that was discovered during a search of Franklin’s property after his July arrest. Police released the photos in December in hopes of locating the women and determining whether any may have been Franklin's victims.

To date, police have identified 74 women but still do not have identities of women seen in 57 of the photos.